Blackman, Donna et al. (2012): Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 340T preliminary report; Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex; velocity, porosity, and impedance contrasts within the domal core of Atlantis Massif; faults and hydration of lithosphere during core complex evolution, 15 February-2 March 2012

Leg/Site/Hole:
IODP 305
IODP 340T
IODP 304 U1309
IODP 305 U1309
IODP 340T U1309
Identifier:
2012-045534
georefid

1932-9423
issn

10.2204/iodp.pr.340T.2012
doi

Creator:
Blackman, Donna
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States
author

Slagle, Angela L.
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, United States
author

Guerin, Gilles
author

Harding, Alistair J.
author

Identification:
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 340T preliminary report; Atlantis Massif oceanic core complex; velocity, porosity, and impedance contrasts within the domal core of Atlantis Massif; faults and hydration of lithosphere during core complex evolution, 15 February-2 March 2012
2012
Preliminary Report (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program)
IODP Management International, College Station, TX, United States
340T
73 pp.
During Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 340T we conducted borehole logging in IODP Hole U1309D on the domal core of Atlantis Massif just west of the spreading axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30 degrees N. Prior seismic imaging showed considerable reflectivity within the footwall of this oceanic core complex, and our new results document the geologic explanation for at least some of the impedance contrast. The dominantly gabbroic section, cored to 1415 meters below seafloor (mbsf) during IODP Expeditions 304 and 305, would not inherently contain density/seismic contrasts sufficient to reflect seismic energy. Expedition 340T aimed to test the hypothesis that highly altered intervals and/or fluid-bearing fault zones at depth might be responsible for these contrasts, thus allowing interpretation of the reflectivity patterns in terms of hydration pathways within young oceanic crust. Our results confirm that borehole velocity of altered olivine-rich troctolite intervals at Site U1309 is sufficiently distinct from surrounding rock (VP approximately 0.5 km/s slower) to produce a multichannel seismic reflection given their several tens of meters thickness. Small dips in temperature (0.3 degrees -0.5 degrees C) were measured in borehole fluid adjacent to known faults at 750 and 1100 mbsf. These suggest that percolation of seawater along the fault zone is still active, not just a past process that produced the alteration documented in Expedition 305 core from these intervals. In addition to obtaining the first seismic coverage of the 800-1400 mbsf portion of Hole U1309D and reliable downhole temperatures, we acquired other standard logging data that are in excellent agreement with Expedition 304/305 borehole measurements. Vertical seismic profile station coverage at zero offset now extends the full length of the hole, including the uppermost 150 mbsf, where detachment processes are expected to have left their strongest imprint. Opportunistic sampling of a seafloor feature, now designated IODP Site U1392 and located a few meters from Hole U1309D, recovered fragments of possible cap rock that may provide information on processes within the exposed detachment.
English
Coverage:Geographic coordinates:
North:30.1100
West:-42.0700East: -42.0600
South:30.1000

Solid-earth geophysics; Applied geophysics; alteration; Atlantic Ocean; Atlantis Massif; body waves; boreholes; cores; crust; density; elastic waves; Expedition 305; Expedition 340T; Expeditions 304/305; fluid phase; gabbros; gamma-ray spectra; geophysical methods; igneous rocks; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program; IODP Site U1309; magnetic properties; magnetic susceptibility; metamorphic core complexes; Mid-Atlantic Ridge; North Atlantic; oceanic crust; P-waves; paleomagnetism; plutonic rocks; resistivity; S-waves; seismic methods; seismic waves; spectra; temperature; troctolite; velocity; well logs;

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